as in capabilities
the physical or mental power to do something
as a result of the accident the once-vigorous athlete lost the ability to walk
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of abilities
The event will combine both physical and mental drills designed to test overall fitness, endurance, and problem-solving abilities under pressure.
—
Rena Rowe, The Washington Examiner, 22 May 2026
With stories focused on surviving rowdy family, moments of loneliness, struggles with faith, and navigating our deepest human relationships, Johnson’s abilities as a pensive storyteller are conducted masterfully.
—Tribune News Service, Baltimore Sun, 22 May 2026
California’s Sierra Nevada mountains experienced an unusual winter in late 2025 and early 2026, which strained some ski resorts’ abilities to run normally.
—Camila Pedrosa, Sacbee.com, 22 May 2026
The push for some kind of government action to review leading AI systems follows growing concern within the banking industry and other institutions about the leaps in AI’s abilities to find cybersecurity vulnerabilities in the world’s software.
—Collin Binkley, Los Angeles Times, 22 May 2026
Internally, respect is high for Nelson’s abilities.
—Tony Jones, New York Times, 21 May 2026
At the clinic, Doctors receive high-quality training that covers current topics in hair transplantation, including patient assessment, surgical planning, operating methods, and post-operative treatment, helping to improve their medical skills and decision-making abilities.
—Wyles Daniel, USA Today, 20 May 2026
Although this face wash is a bit of a splurge, our acne-prone tester can vouch for its impressive hyperpigmentation-fading abilities.
—Sarah Felbin, Allure, 20 May 2026
But shortly before the screen cuts to black one last time, the lovers can be seen and heard gasping for breath, suggesting that Claire has used her special healing abilities to save Jamie.
—Max Gao, HollywoodReporter, 15 May 2026
Rena Rowe, The Washington Examiner, 22 May 2026
With stories focused on surviving rowdy family, moments of loneliness, struggles with faith, and navigating our deepest human relationships, Johnson’s abilities as a pensive storyteller are conducted masterfully.
—Tribune News Service, Baltimore Sun, 22 May 2026
California’s Sierra Nevada mountains experienced an unusual winter in late 2025 and early 2026, which strained some ski resorts’ abilities to run normally.
—Camila Pedrosa, Sacbee.com, 22 May 2026
The push for some kind of government action to review leading AI systems follows growing concern within the banking industry and other institutions about the leaps in AI’s abilities to find cybersecurity vulnerabilities in the world’s software.
—Collin Binkley, Los Angeles Times, 22 May 2026
Internally, respect is high for Nelson’s abilities.
—Tony Jones, New York Times, 21 May 2026
At the clinic, Doctors receive high-quality training that covers current topics in hair transplantation, including patient assessment, surgical planning, operating methods, and post-operative treatment, helping to improve their medical skills and decision-making abilities.
—Wyles Daniel, USA Today, 20 May 2026
Although this face wash is a bit of a splurge, our acne-prone tester can vouch for its impressive hyperpigmentation-fading abilities.
—Sarah Felbin, Allure, 20 May 2026
But shortly before the screen cuts to black one last time, the lovers can be seen and heard gasping for breath, suggesting that Claire has used her special healing abilities to save Jamie.
—Max Gao, HollywoodReporter, 15 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for abilities
Noun
-
Organizers said the air show that includes flying demonstrations and parachute jumps is a celebration of aviation history and a look at modern military capabilities.—
Rebecca Boone,
Los Angeles Times,
17 May 2026
-
The popular air show is a celebration of aviation history and a look at modern military capabilities and includes flying demonstrations and parachute jumps, according to the event's organizers.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
17 May 2026
Noun
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Anyone seeking a full understanding of Mary will benefit from reading her correspondence, published in 1972; the letters, however peculiar in their observations and punctuation, reveal the intellectual capacities of a woman often seen wholly in terms of her emotions.—
Thomas Mallon,
New Yorker,
18 May 2026
-
All our political capacities are given over to this one monopoly of the nation-state, which has stripped us of every other kind.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
18 May 2026
Noun
-
Seen from this perspective, music seems not merely like an activity that builds cognitive skills, but perhaps even more essentially like an activity that builds social connection.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
20 May 2026
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Asked what her plans are post-graduation, Li admitted her basic printing skills could improve, hopefully with assistance from someone at Dries Van Noten.—
Ari Stark,
Footwear News,
19 May 2026
Noun
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This same window of time will promote the arts and give you opportunities to express your creative talents.—
Georgia Nicols,
Denver Post,
20 May 2026
-
Fanning wanted to emphasize Margo’s writerly talents, an intention Kelley shared.—
Tomris Laffly,
Los Angeles Times,
20 May 2026
Noun
-
The researchers also announced a contest with a $200,000 prize pool on the popular machine learning competition site Kaggle for outside researchers to help build evaluations for the five cognitive faculties where existing benchmark tests are weakest.—
Jeremy Kahn,
Fortune,
30 Mar. 2026
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Strange occurrences quickly destabilize the group, with the writer becoming increasingly unhinged, convinced the location has an inexplicable hold over her creative faculties.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
17 Mar. 2026
Noun
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For this class, the premise is that your purpose in life lies to the intersection of your values, your aptitudes and your interests.—
Dana Taylor,
USA Today,
6 May 2026
-
This model reflects Japan’s long-standing corporate culture, which prioritizes new hires for their general potential—their aptitudes and aspirations, as opposed to their current skill sets or university majors—and then trains them on the job.—
GRACIA LIU-FARRER,
Foreign Affairs,
18 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
Of all the competencies required for the role, political affiliation or experience as a television commentator are not high on his list.—
Pien Huang,
NPR,
2 May 2026
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Learn from that and then get incredibly good rebuild core competencies.—
Richard Tribou,
The Orlando Sentinel,
27 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Abilities.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/abilities. Accessed 23 May. 2026.
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